STRIKE ONE!
{ Learning Target: I can describe the
working conditions that an individual
faced when working in factories and
why Unions were created to help
workers.
I-The Age of Industry
A-People began mass producing objects about 1875
1-Clothing was among the first of the major
industries in America
2-Called the “Gilded Age” because of the
new group of rich people who came into being
3-Resources were discovered and exploited
4-These business men called “Captains of
Industry” and “Robber Barons”
I-The Age of Industry
A) Steel (Andrew Carnegie)
B) Oil (John D. Rockefeller)
1) First Billionaire
C) Meat Packing (Gustave Swift
& Phillip Armour)
D) Coal Mining (Marcus Alonzo
Hanna)
E) Lumbering
F) Railroad (James J. Hill)
G) Banking (J.P. Morgan)
H) Newspaper (William
Randolph Hearst
II-Who are the workers?
A-Many immigrants began coming to America
about 1870
1-Why come?
A) Famine in their country
B) Money
C) Better way of life
D) Oppression (religious, political)
2-Why hire:
A) Cheaper than people born in the
U.S. because they did not know the
language
1) They could not
communicate and find out
they were being paid less
II-Who are the workers?
B-Women
1-Cheaper than men
C-Children
1-Cheaper than adults
2-began working at 5 or 6 years old
II-Who are the workers?
D-Minorities
1-African American
A) Cheaper than White
Americans but more expensive
than immigrants
2-Chinese
A) Came to build the
transcontinental railroad in 1850’s
B) Worked for less
C) did most dangerous work
through the mountains
D) Laws passed limiting (then
banning) Chinese immigration
III-Working Conditions
A-Owners did not care about the workers
1-building were old and dilapidated
2-buildings were hot in summer, cold in
winter
3-rooms were crowded
4-pay was cheap
5-long hours (12-16 hours per day)
6-worked 6 days a week (Sunday off for
church)
III-Working Conditions
B-Benefits (or lack of benefits)
1-no fringe benefits
2-no sick leave (lost job if called in sick)
3-no overtime
4-no health insurance
5-if you were hurt on the job, it was too bad
A) lost job if went to doctor during work!
III-Working Conditions
C-Quest for Efficiency
1- Frederick Winslow Taylor
A) Created basis of Scientific
Management of Business
B) Used shops and large factories as
models to promote his ideas
C) Wrote books on scientific
management
IV-Help for the Worker
A-Knights of Labor
1-First formation of a labor union in America
2-Existed: 1869-1886
3-Advocated an 8-hour work day
4-Included both skilled and unskilled workers
5-owner’s reaction: fired worker if they found
out you belonged to a union
IV-Help for the Worker
B-American Federation of Labor (AFL)
1-formed in 1881 by Samuel Gompers
2-included only skilled workers
3-discriminated against minorities
4-became a union for unions
5-owner’s reaction: fired worker if they found
out you belonged to a union
IV-Help for the Worker
C-The Grange
1-Advocacy group for farmers
2-Tried to get laws that regulated prices of
agriculture goods
3-Problem: Big business believed they were a
form of Union
D-Many owners believed that unions were
illegal
1-Courts agrees with the owners at this
time (later changed)
V-Strikes
A-Great Railroad Strike of 1877
1-Pay cuts caused strikes to occur throughout the
country
2-Workers of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad went on
strike after a second pay cut
3-President Hayes used federal troops to restore
order after workers were killed
V-Strikes
B-Haymaker Strike: 1885
1-happened at the McCormick Harvester Works
Company in Chicago
2-President of company cut wages of all workers
10% except molders. They were cut 15%!
3-after 3 months, workers asked for wages to be
restored---owners said no
4-Molders went on strike
A) most were Irish
1) Irish were a “minority” in the
factory
B) Most workers were German, Swedish
or Norwegian
V-Strikes
B-Haymaker Strike: 1885
5-Company hires “scabs” to replace strikers
6-Pinkertons hired to keep peace
A) did not hire police because many
police were Irish and the belief was
they supported the strikers
7-Molders won, but were soon replaced with
machines
8-Molders convince other workers to form a
union
9-New union members take of strike
A) before strike could happen, owners
closed the plant
B) called a “lock out”
V-Strikes
B-Haymaker Strike: 1885
10-owner re-opens with only non-union
workers
11-Strike spreads to other businesses in
Chicago
12-Strike culminates with riot in Haymarket
Square
13-Someone throws a bomb at police
14-Four leaders were arrested and convicted
of murder
A) All four were executed by hanging
B) Some say this was one of the most
unfair trials in U.S. History
V-Strikes
C-Homestead Steel Strike: 1892
1-Against Carneigie’s Homestead Steel Plant
2-Carneigie locked out workers
3-Hires 300 Pinkertons to keep workers out
4-Police arrested strikers
V-Strikes
C-Homestead Steel Strike: 1892
1-Against Carneigie’s Homestead Steel Plant
2-Carneigie locked out workers
3-Hires 300 Pinkertons to keep workers out
4-Police arrested strikers
V-Strikes
D-Anthracite Coal Strike: 1902
1-Heat & electricity produced by coal
2-strikers asked for safer conditions and more
money
3-Strike began late April/early May
4-Strikers wanted to negotiate, owners said
no
A) Strikers later offered arbitration, owners
said no
V-Strikes
E-Strikes against Great Northern Railway and
Pullman Palace Car Company
1-led by Eugene V. Debs
A) created American Railway Union
B) ran for President FIVE times as
Socialist candidate
2-received all demands in GNR strike
3-Pullman company cut wages 28%
4-President Cleveland sent in troops claiming
strike was illegal since it stopped US Mail
(trains would carry mail)
5-Debs was arrested for illegal strike
(Supreme Court affirmed this)